Study on earth pressure acting on cutter face based on nonlinear optimization

Abstract

Shield tunneling technologies have been developed for constructing tunnels in soft ground. It is of major importance to study the earth pressure acting on cutter face. Nowadays, the methods of studying earth pressure could be classified into two categories: Rankine theory and limit equilibrium method. However, these methods cannot represent the distribution of earth pressure on cutter face and dynamic characters. In this paper, Duncan-Chang nonlinear elasticity model is applied to calculate the earth stiffness, and Peck's formula is used to establish the relationship between the ground settlement and earth pressure. Furthermore, an earth pressure model acting on cutter face is proposed based on the principle of minimum potential energy. The proposed model not only can provide the distribution of earth pressure, but also can be used to adjust the chamber pressure and the jack force immediately according to information feedback of ground settlement. Basic examples composed of combinations of different overburden depth and sandy ground are studied, and the validity of the model is discussed by comparing the results with simulation and Terzaghi's loosening earth pressure model. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.